Finding the new you – as business owner AND mum

This article was originally published on Kids on the Coast http://www.kidsonthecoast.com.au

As a business owner you are comfortable. You juggle finance, legal, marketing, staffing, clients on a daily basis. You do it easily – if you need to work late you do; if you need to work on the weekends to catch up you do. You tell everyone you are busy, out of control even, have so many balls in the air that you can’t stop juggling in case you drop one – left, right, left you go on. AND then you add a baby.

You try to hold onto everything that you had before, you become seriously time poor, your mind is conflicted. Your priorities in life have shifted. You stop thinking about just you and start thinking about this little being. You reorganise your life so you can be there for your baby, provide for them, nurture them, enjoy those little moments. Then life somehow gets in the way and causes conflict with this new-found identity.

While your mind and body have stepped into their new role as mother, you are often finding yourself being dragged into doing the things you did before you were mother. This potentially causes you to feel anxiety and guilt. You are stuck between the expectations others have of the old you and your new life where you have a very different priority.

How do you step into your brand new identity, while still drawing on the strengths and skills of your pre-mother self?

First you need to define your new identity for yourself. Step into that role and make the changes you need to truly become the person you want to be. Write rules, create a life plan, make a vision board or get a coach. Take all the things you still love about who you were and mash it up with the person you have become. Do whatever you need to find clarity around your new role of mum and whatever you were – business owner, career person – whoever!

Surround yourself with people who will support you and keep you both motivated and accountable. You are not being selfish. You are putting the needs of your baby and family first. You are making sure that you are fulfilled and not being left stressed and full of guilt.

You are making the changes that will lead you to achieving balance.

Finding forgotten pieces of time

This article was originally published on Business Women Media - http://www.thebusinesswomanmedia.com

The biggest complaint everyone has is that they do not have enough time. What most people fail to remember is that we all have the same amount of time as each other. There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 52 weeks in a year. We all get the same. What differs from person to person is what we choose to do with that time.

Efficient people have schedules and processes in place. They outsource or employ others. They put a value on not only their own time but family time also. They appear organised and in control, and that is the bit we all want to achieve – the feeling that everything is in balance and that we have the time to do the things that we enjoy.

So where do you start. The hardest thing to do is what needs to happen first. Stop saying ‘I am so busy’, ‘I have no time in the day’, ‘I can’t control what I do in a day’, ‘I am not the sort of person who can set up and live by systems.’ This is the story that you have been telling yourself for a long time – by saying these things you start to believe that it is true. With this story playing in your head you will never move to a place that you can gain control and achieve balance.

By using these next tips you will be able to find forgotten bits of time:

1. Record how you are using your time over a 2 week period (or more if you want). Look at the time you spend working, being domestic, with your children, your partner, for yourself, your friends, sleeping, eating, driving and so on. Colour code it.

2. Analyse what you have found out about yourself. Maybe you will find some of those stories you have been telling yourself that you don’t spend time with your kids, or you don’t do anything for yourself are not entirely true. Can you see where you are spending too much time? Or maybe not enough time?

3. Schedule your life. Schedule everything. Run separate calendars if you need to. Share those calendars with people who need to see them. Put everything in it – kids activities, work deadlines, meals to cook and so on.

4. Have task lists for all areas of your life. Allocate time to do bigger tasks. Smaller tasks can be done in those 5 minutes that you arrived at school pick-up early or waiting for kids to finish a lesson. Using those little bits of time given to you because something else was completed quicker or finished early.

5. If you repeat a task, systemise it or outsource it. Your system can be as simple or complex as you would like to make it. Some people use apps to plan their meals, some use spreadsheets, others a piece of paper on the fridge is perfect. Whatever works for you and your family.

Good luck with finding your forgotten bits of time!

Smart marketing for busy parents

This article originally appeared on Inside Small Business www.insidesmallbusiness.com.au

Many businesses face the same pain around their marketing – a lack of time and money. For new mums (or dads) who are also running their own business, the pain of finding time is very real.

New business mums are expected to juggle meeting the demands of their business and their baby equally. For many, who are also suffering post-birth depletion or other health issues, including sleep deprivation, the pressure cooker starts to build. Instead of enjoying this time in your baby’s life you start to feel pulled back into your business to “carry on as usual.”

By understanding basic marketing concepts, you will find that you can effectively market your business within the time and money that you have.

Simply marketing is research, strategy, campaigns and leads.

Research

It is important to understand your customers (actual and ideal), your products and services and also your competitors. For some businesses, it is also relevant to understand other local and global issues that may affect the way that your business operates in. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) plan should be created to show the research you have undertaken.

Strategy

Your marketing strategy should be closely aligned with your business goals, and they should direct all of your marketing-related activities. This includes sales, promotions and digital. A marketing mix will provide the big picture view of your marketing (four to seven P’s or C’s).

Campaigns

The campaigns that you create will deliver your strategy. This is where you can get creative. It is about breaking everything down into bite-size, achievable pieces – understanding that it will deliver on your marketing goals.

This is the bit that you can control and slow down if needed. Moreover, once the content is generated you can often automate many aspects of a campaign. However, note that while campaigns deliver on your strategy, they also fill up your lead funnel. By slowing down the activity in your campaigns, you will also slow down lead generation. This is important, especially if you have limited time to meet your customers’ expectations.

Leads

In general terms, this is about bringing your ideal client closer to doing business with you. Typically speaking, people need to see your brand three to nine times before they will do business with you. By attracting them into your lead funnel and encouraging them to engage with you more, you will increase the chances of them becoming a paying customer.

By spending some time and planning your marketing (research and strategy), you will be able to create campaigns that create leads, and leads that become sales. By automating your campaigns and your lead generation, you will not need to think about it, and you can also control the number of people in the process.

Not only can you be smarter with your time, you can also make smarter decisions with your money.

Finding The New You After Having A Baby

This article originally appeared on My Deal - www.mydeal.com.au

When you have a baby, everything changes. Most significantly your priorities in life shift. You stop thinking about just you and start thinking about this little being. You reorganise your life so you can be there for your baby, provide for them, nurture them, enjoy those little moments. Then life somehow gets in the way and causes conflict with this new-found identity.

While your mind and body have stepped into their new role as mother, you are often finding yourself being dragged into doing the things you did before you were mother. This potentially causes you to feel anxiety and guilt. You are stuck between the expectations others have of the old you and your new life where you have a very different priority.

How do you step into your brand-new identity, while still drawing on the strengths and skills of your pre-mother self?

1) First you need to define your new identity for yourself.

Step into that role and make the changes you need to truly become the person you want to be. Write rules, create a life plan, make a vision board or get a coach. Take all the things you still love about who you were and mash it up with the person you have become. Do whatever you need to find clarity around your new role of mum and whatever you were – business owner, career person – whoever!

2) Surround yourself with people who will support you and keep you both motivated and accountable.

You are not being selfish. You are putting the needs of your baby and family first. You are making sure that you are fulfilled and not being left stressed and full of guilt.

You are making the changes that will lead you to achieving balance.